Some of those unhappy about Mayor Johnson's power play complain that he's politicised the appointment of Met chief. Now, here's what The Blond's Deputy for Policing wrote about Ian Blair back in January:
Sir Ian walks, talks and acts like a politician, yet he is neither elected, nor, it seems, is he accountable...[his] politicisation of the job of commissioner began when he took charge at the Met. He immediately declared a headline-chasing crackdown on middle-class and celebrity cocaine users because of "...the impact of this kind of behaviour on innocent young people". Since then he has suggested his force be granted unprecedented discretion to confiscate driving licences and issue ASBOs on the spot.
Which is the more harmful to policing? A political appointment or a politicised appointee? Was, say, Sir John Stevens never "political" or was it just a different kind of politics? Questions, questions, questions...
